Statement by The FA and Cornwall FA.
Our Welfare Officer is Mandy Kimmins 0753 395 3351.
Please also see the Referees pages and the links below for other helpful information on Child Protection.
Club Welfare Officer
If your league or club runs teams from mini-soccer to under-18s, it is now an FA requirement for a Welfare Officer to be in place to be able to affiliate your league or club.
From season 2010-11, all leagues and clubs with youth teams must have a named Welfare Officer, who has an 'accepted' CRB check via The FA CRB Unit and who has completed The FA Safeguarding Children and Welfare Officer workshops.
Cornwall FA holds Safeguarding Children Workshops as part of its Coach Education programme. Please see the Courses pages for more details.
Once in place, Cornwall FA provides full training and offers ongoing guidance, advice and sharing of best practice.
This includes The FA’s Online Safeguarding Children Service. The system also allows Club Welfare Officers to see who has completed their Safeguarding Children training and who has been CRB checked. Go to www.TheFA.com/footballsafe for access to the Online Safeguarding Children Service. If you need help with accessing this site contact your County Welfare Officer who will be pleased to help.
Full details are in the leaflet on the right (published in 2008).
The next Welfare Officer Workshops are in Plymouth in March 2010 and Bodmin and Camborne in May 2010. Please see the details on the right.
For season 2009-10, all leagues and clubs with youth teams, must have appointed a named Welfare Officer, who has an 'accepted' CRB check via The FA CRB Unit and who has completed The FA Safeguarding Children workshop (formerly known as Child Protection and Best Practice workshop);
Please contact us if you have any questions.
The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act
A guidance statement has been made by The FA in January 2010. It is available to download on the right.
Please also use the link on the right to find out how this act will affect football clubs.
A Summary of the Statement is:
"The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act (2006) (SVGA), was drafted following the death of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman and aims to prevent unsuitable people from working with children and vulnerable adults.
The FA is aware that people are anxious about the cost of the new scheme. The Government will not be charging volunteers to join the new scheme.
You will not fall foul of the Act by reading the full statment and waiting for further FA information.
Season 2009 – 2010
Most of the Act does not affect children’s football until July 2010, so for the season 2009 / 2010 football must:
• Continue with the current CRB process;
• Ensure new starters working with U18s are CRB checked immediately;
• Ensure everyone helping in U18 football who does not yet have a CRB check has a check as soon as possible;
• Follow FA guidance on reporting concerns. The FA will then report relevant and significant concerns to the new Independent Safeguarding Authority.
• Leagues and Clubs will receive more information from The FA, telling them what they need to do for the season 2010 / 2011.
Safeguarding Children and CRB Enquiries
The FA Safeguarding and Equality general enquiries number –
0845 210 8080 is aimed at anyone who wants to find out more about The FA's Safeguarding Education Programme, The FA CRB Unit or anything relating to Safeguarding Children in football. Please note this number is also used as a general enquiries number for the Equality Education Programme. Don’t forget you can use Footballsafe@TheFA.com for general safeguarding enquiries and crb@TheFA.com for CRB specific issues.
On telephoning this service, callers will hear a message that will direct their enquiry to the team best equipped to support as detailed below:
‘Welcome to The FA enquiry helpline
If you have a CRB enquiry please press 1
If you have an FA Learning workshop or course enquiry press 2
If you have a Charter Standard enquiry press 3
For all other enquiries press 4’
You can still contact the County Office (or telephone 01208 269010) if you have an enquiry about FA Charter Standard, Safeguarding Children workshops held locally or general information about Criminal Records Bureau procedure.
The FA has established a link with the NSPCC and the HELPLINE is 0808 800 5000 Deaf Users Textphone: 0800 056 0566www.nspcc.org.uk
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Online Sites and Children's Welfare
Please go to the Staying Safe Online page through the link on the left.
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The FA has issued advice on policies and procedures for keeping children safe and other information such as Guidelines on Photography and Children.
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There are websites available for reporting illegal content run by the police national crime squad.
http://www.virtualglobaltaskforce.com
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For more on youth football, please see the other sections of the website including Rules and Regulations and Development.